The Murder Man

Spencer Tracy is the title character. He is a newspaper's ace crime reporter in this very good movie that could have been great.

I've read quite a lot about Tracy's life. The character he plays seems to have many traits and behavioral patterns in common with the real Spencer Tracy, who was apparently a far darker person than many of the benevolent roles he played.

This moves along at a good clip. At times it's upsetting, at others it's exciting.

Virginia Bruce is the lonely-hearts columnist at the paper. She has crush on Tracy but he has secrets and a past that have kept him from allowing a relationship to develop. (A couple years earlier, before the Code, it well might have developed anyway.) Bruce was a beautiful woman, with a poignant, ethereal quality. Here, however, she is unflatteringly costumed, made-up, and/or lit. She comes across more as a mannish, dowdy old maid schoolteacher than the romantic leading lady she was.

"Fury" is not a sunny movie, to say the least. This is another movie that shows a different Tracy we know from his two 1930s Oscar-winning roles, the collaborations with Katharine Hepburn, and "Father of the Bride" and its sequel.

The very darkest of all his movies, however, is "The People Against O'Hara." I consider that one a classic. This is not quite a classic but it's unique and gripping.

Steve Grey (Spencer Tracy) is the best homicide newspaper journalist in the city: they call him "the Murder Man." If there's a murder, he'll get all the inside information, and he'll have it on the press first. That he always succeeds despite a debilitating weakness for alcohol is considered by colleagues simply a part of his genius. In the killing of investment broker (read: con artist) James Spencer Halford – snipered in a car from a streetside shooting gallery – Grey is once again on the frontline, with an uncanny knack for reporting murder details before even the police know them.

Grey plays the story from both sides, as a pivotal witness in the murder case against Henry Mander, the victim's business associate, and as a reporter ostensibly reporting the unbiased facts (intriguingly, it's a two-way street, since Grey often twists the facts to his advantage). This MGM drama, which I had expected to be as grim as the similarly- themed 'Crime Without Passion' with Claude Rains, is surprisingly light- hearted in tone for the most part. Particular amusement is provided by the lanky young form of Jimmy Stewart, boasting a cheerful cockeyed grin in his feature debut. Jimmy's first ever words in a prolific movie career? "Hi, Joe!"

This was one of the first features that Spencer Tracy did for his new studio MGM when they signed him in 1935. At his first studio, 20th Century Fox he was cast in a whole lot of routine action pictures as a two-fisted rugged type in whatever role he played. It's no different here, in fact until he played Father Mullin in San Francisco, Tracy's MGM career promised more roles of the same type.

Here he's a newspaper reporter in the best tradition of The Front Page which this film borrows a lot from. He's called The Murder Man because he's the one the editor, Robert Barrat, call for when he wants coverage on any homicide. He's covering one in this film concerning an investment broker (con artist) who's accused of killing his partner. In fact Tracy provides key evidence for a conviction.

The movie does have a surprise ending which I won't reveal, unusual for a film in the 1930s. That and the presence of Spencer Tracy and James Stewart make it worth viewing.

This was the film debut of James Stewart. He has a role of another reporter on the same paper as Tracy. He was signed by MGM after appearing on Broadway in the play Yellow Jacket and garnering rave reviews. He's the same Jimmy Stewart that soon became an icon, but he didn't get much attention for the few lines he had here. He would have to wait for his next film appearance in Rose Marie to get moviegoers attention.

Murder Man, The (1935)

*** (out of 4)

Very good "B" movie from MGM has Spencer Tracy playing newspaper reporter Steve Grey who has the nickname of "The Murder Man" due to him being able to crack any case. The latest big story deals with a murdered insurance man who appears to have been killed by his partner (Harvey Stephens) but he claims he's innocent and the majority of the evidence from the police captain (Lionel Atwill) really doesn't tie him to the events. THE MURDER MAN looks like it was a rushed job and there's no question not too much money went into it but the cast, story and direction make it a must see and it's really a gem that should be better known. The greatest aspect is certainly the cast as we get veterans like Tracy, Atwill and Virginia Bruce but we also get a small role played by James Stewart. I'm sure a number of lesser actors could have been handed this role but it's quite easy to see that they wouldn't have brought as much to it as Tracy. Tracy has that terrific ability to make acting look easy but the role here was a pretty difficult one because he's character is dealing with alcohol abuse as well as other issues. Tracy does a remarkable job at showing off all of these emotions and while this certainly isn't as great as many of his future roles, the actor really gives it his all and delivers a memorable performance. Bruce is also very good in her role as the girlfriend and the two have some nice chemistry together. I was also quite impressed with Stephens who manages to be quite cocky early in the film and the actor really gets to shine towards the end when he's cracking from about to hit the chair. Stewart doesn't have a very big role but he does what he can with it. I love watching legends before they were stars and here's the perfect example because it's not everyday you can see someone like Stewart playing such a role. Tracy and Stewart share a couple scenes together, which will certainly please film buffs. The story itself is a pretty strong one and when the final twist happens you can't help but feel good that the film would stick to its gun and go for the shock instead of dealing some weak, lame attempt to make everything happy.

A very good film. It is typical of the 1930's "news reporter" films that were so prevalent back then, and this one holds up very well. Spencer Tracy gives another great performance as the reporter and the rest of the cast help him out with outstanding performances all around. It was something to see Lionel Atwill without a moustache!! Never saw that before!! LOL And it was great to see my favorite character actor, Charles Trowbridge in it also, although he is the prosecuting attorney in the film and not the investor, as it says in his bio on the IMDB. Great little film with a twist ending!! Be sure and catch it when it is on television. You won't be disappointed, I wasn't.